Bonus Baby

For two years, major-league scouts drooled every time they saw big, tousle-haired Paul Pettit throw a baseball. Not since Fireball Bob Feller was an apple-cheeked Iowa schoolboy had they seen anything like Pettit. But by the laws of organized baseball it was taboo to discuss such down-to-earth matters as money with Pettit until his schooling was finished at Narbonne High in Lomita, Calif. While the scouts were counting the days until the 18-year-old pitcher graduated, they learned something that made them dry-mouthed and white-lipped.

A nimble-footed Hollywood movie producer, Frederick Stephani, had signed up Pitcher Pettit four months ago. For $85,000 (including $750 for honeymoon expenses if & when Pettit gets married), Producer Stephani got exclusive rights to his acting and athletic talents. Then Stephani, who knew how glad some big-league clubs would be to take over the baseball end of his contract, put Pettit on the block to the highest bidder.

Last week, a few days after Paul Pettit graduated, the bids were opened in the movie man's offices on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard. The winning bid: a $100,000 offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates.*

"Out of This World." Nothing like it had ever happened in baseball before. It was the biggest sum ever paid for an untried player (previous high: an $80,000 bonus peeled out by the Detroit Tigers for Catcher Frank House two years ago).

There were loud cries on all sides. The New York Yankees, who thought they needed Pettit as much as anybody else did, bellowed that the Stephani operation was highly irregular, even though they had submitted a bid themselves. Commissioner "Happy" Chandler, who had a scout of his own in California to gather facts for him, promised to look into the matter. But at first blush it looked as though the Pirates had a clear title--provided they hadn't dickered directly with Pitcher Pettit before graduation.

The only thing everybody clearly agreed on was that Paul Pettit was "out of this world" as a pitching prospect. A southpaw, he stands 6 ft. 2 in. tall, weighs 205 Ibs., and throws a fast ball that "takes off." For four years Paul Pettit has completely befuddled schoolboy batters, once struck out 27 in a 12-inning game. In 1948, he performed the authentic Frank Merriwell stunt of pitching six no-hit, no-run games, . three of them in succession.

"All I Want . . " Next week Pettit will report to the Pirates' rookie training camp at San Bernardino, Calif. He will be seasoned this year with the New Orleans Pelicans, a Pirate farm team, and make his big-league debut in 1951. The big question is whether money in the bank will spoil his appetite for baseball, as it did with some other bonus babies, notably Outfielder Dick Wakefield (TIME, Jan. 2). Pettit already has $10,000 on account, and will draw down the rest of his bonus in yearly installments.

Said Movie Producer Stephani: "All I want are the movie rights to make a picture about Pettit when he becomes a star."

* In another deal last week, the free-handed Pirates boosted Home-Run King Ralph Kiner's salary to $65,000 a year, making him the National League's highest-paid player.

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